The House of Ogai Mori And Soseki Natsume
At the Meijimura near Nagoya I found this beautiful little villa that has the distinction of being the former home of two of Japan’s greatest literary minds, the Army Surgeon General Ogai Mori (1862-1922) and Professor Soseki Natsume (1867-1916). Mori spent a few years in Germany while Natsume spent years in England, two very international persons for their day. This house was originally in Tokyo, in Bunkyo ward, but was moved in the 1960’s to its present location. It was first constructed in 1890 and is a typical small Japanese house. Built for summer it must have been bitingly cold in the winters! Can you see the cat? It was placed there in memory of Natsume’s most famous novel, “I am a Cat”.
Tokyobling's Blog 
What a nice cosy little house. Very Japanese indeed. The small house I grew up in Kawasaki had an engawa and a bamboo kakine like that in the photo. I see the cat. It’s a good idea.
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My dream is to live in a house with a proper engawa! (^-^)
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Perfect!
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Thanks! (^-^)
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What a beautiful little villa, it’s so interesting and charming. I can feel the crisp autumn air (even though it’s winter) brushing pass my cheek. I love the cat, and now I want to read “I am a Cat”.
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Natsume is one of the authors you have to read to understand Japan! And it’s not super long either, like most modern novels. (^-^)
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Actually I am starting to look for books to read. It’s something that feels missing from my life and I’d like to correct that.
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I know! I haven’t read a book in ages… I just don’t have the time. Maybe if I stopped bloggin? Haha…
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Ah, serenity… How pleasant this would be in summer, with the zzz…zzz…zzzzt of cicadas.
As for winter, well, I guess that is what a kotatsu is for…
I now made an inter-library request for ‘I am a cat’ (the translation by Akiko Itō and Graeme Wilson).
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Yes… this house in summer would be heaven! When it comes to Japanese litterature, I always go for the oldest translation I can find. I haven’t read anything by Wilson but I hope he is good!
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What a lovely place!
And interesting explanations as always 🙂
I thought it was a real cat XD
You make me wanna read this book!
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Thank you Lili! I wish I had time to go inside the house when I visited but it was already getting late…
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Sniff..I want a house like this, with all those plant and calmness *-*
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Me too! (=_=;)
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beautiful footings
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Aren’t they? Also, as a bonus, they are very earthquake proof as well! (^-^)
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I wonder if the big middle one also functions as a step.
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Yes, you would sit on the porch and remove your shoes before stepping onto the big middle stone and then on to the porch barefoot.
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